Reflections

Two classes down. This weeks class had some ups and downs. I'm one of those people that when told, "I have some good news and bad news, which do you want first?" I always select the bad news because it can only go up from there :)

After reflecting about last evenings class, I found myself thinking of how things can improve for the following week. First and foremost, the technical side of the feedback/echo was distracting. When Susan was giving her presentation on Google Portfolios/Profile we heard a lot of echo on our end. It became very distracting and I think that for future classes when we present our theories we will need to make sure that we don't have an echo as to take away from the hard work of our peers. Secondly, I think some of the newer students to the MAIT program were left wondering what they would use a Portfolio/Profile for. I think it would have been a little helpful for the newer MAIT students to see an example of an earlier Portfolio so that they know what kinds of finished product should be placed in your portfolio and explain why we have one. Finally between the hour long google presentation AND  the library presentation, many of us were left burnt out. A lot of information was given. I think if we could have watched the videos on Google and then discussed trouble areas and then had the library segment, we would have felt less overwhelmed.

Now lets look at the pros. Even though we had a lot of information given, it was useful information. We were able to see what more Google has to offer (added to all the fantastic things they offer). I'm astonished about how many free tools are out there for our use. Furthermore, we need to remember that we are lucky to live in an age where our instructor was in Aruba and could still run a class virtually.... amazing! Library skills are always critical, especially given the topics we have to research. I found that I felt more comfortable with the research process after hearing the library tutorial.

Looking foward to all of the upcomming presentations. Good luck to all.

First Class

I have to say that after last weeks class, I have my work cut out for me. This is definatley a change being back to work full time AND taking a class. I had it easy over the summer semester and being on maternity leave for the fall semester.... spring semester will be a challenge. I've got to get a routine down so that I don't feel overwhelmed. I'm looking forward to working on the Synectics theory because I have no experience with it and excited to learn something new. We'll see how it goes!